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We are thrilled to announce that we can now save more cats’ lives than ever before! Thanks to a grant from PetSmart Charities, we’ve recently opened a completely separate isolation ward to house and care for cats and kittens who are infected with ringworm.

Walker and Buster came to PAWS after their owner of many years passed away. While we knew that both seniors had health issues common for older dogs, we were sad to find that Walker also had an advanced tumor on his adrenal gland that could not be operated on.

When an animal in our care has a health condition that we learn is terminal, our focus switches from finding a cure to maximizing their comfort and quality of life. Normally, our first step is to find a foster home where a pet can enjoy their final weeks or months with all the love and happiness they deserve. Although we very much wanted this for Walker, it was clear that extending his life would not be compassionate given the amount of pain he was experiencing. Knowing that the kindest decision is sometimes also the hardest, we hatched a plan to give Walker a special, fun-filled day with Buster before saying goodbye.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since we opened the doors to our Old City adoption center! Since January 2008, our tiny flagship location has enabled over 8,700 pets to find loving homes.

The adoption center wasn’t the only thing to turn ten this year: our cat housing was state-of-the-art when we installed it in 2008, but after a decade and nearly 8,000 feline residents, it was time for an upgrade!

Thanks to our caring supporters, we were able to meet our fundraising goal of $15,000 to replace our cat housing with new, expanded units to provide our cats the most comfortable stay possible until they find their forever home. We are so grateful to everyone whose generosity will allow us to provide the best stay possible for the next 8,000 cats – and beyond!

PAWS animals are celebrating another record-breaking year of lifesaving thanks to you! In 2017, PAWS served more animals than ever before through rescue, adoption, spay/neuter, and low-cost veterinary care.

We’re closer than ever to making Philadelphia a place where every savable pet has a home. With your help, our efforts are working: over 82% of Philadelphia’s homeless pets are being saved and far fewer are entering shelters in the first place.

Here’s what we accomplished together in 2017, along with a peek at our plans to do even more in 2018!

10/14/2017: Thank you to everyone who joined us for another amazing Mutt Strut on Saturday, October 14!

We are thrilled to announce that together, we raised an incredible $115,000 for homeless animals! Proceeds will fund PAWS’ lifesaving efforts and enable us to rescue and serve more of Philadelphia’s neediest pets. Thank you to the attendees, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, teams, and fundraisers who contributed to this incredible day!

PAWS was thrilled to cohost a free preventive care clinic in West Philadelphia with the Banfield Foundation in September. A total of 69 pets received wellness care and exams thanks to Banfield’s vets and techs, who did everything from treating ear issues, to giving shots to trimming nails. It’s proven that access to preventive care reduces the number of pets who end up at shelters due to medical issues, and we are so grateful to Banfield for giving owners who love their pets the tools they need to keep them safe, happy, and healthy!

Our hard work is paying off: 359 PAWS pets found loving homes in the month of August, shattering our previous adoption record of 290 from October 2016 and surpassing last August’s numbers by 127 adoptions.

That’s not the only record we broke: these adoptions allowed PAWS to rescue 369 animals from area shelters last month, opening up lifesaving space for pets who were only just starting their journeys, and surpassing our previous record of 325 pets rescued in August of 2015.Continue reading →